A friend (David) who is a denominational official in Australia wrote a rough draft of an article, to which I have added some notes.

My responses preceded by ===

=== First check the articles on 'Call' on our websites (JMM and Priscillasfriends)

"Losing Your Sense Of Call" and "When No Church Invites"

Due to the nature of "call" these two issues are linked.

No Pastor can survive in Pastoral Ministry without a "call".

A "call" from God to the role Pastoral Ministry is evidenced by a number of factors:-

One, a deep-seated conviction that God would have you serve as a Pastor.

Two, confirmation from the Body of Christ, expressed in the fact that a part of that Body - a local church - wants you to be their Pastor.

Three, evidence of giftedness.

Four, signs of the Body of Christ being enriched as a result of your labour.

All four have to be evidenced for there to be a "call" in the full sense of that word.

=== good summary, except that 'pastoral ministry' can happen outside a 'local church' (eg. chaplains, counsellors such as myself etc.)

When you lose you call.

A "call" to Pastoral Ministry is a "call" to service and sacrifice. It is the very opposite of what we commonly think about when we refer to a "career". In many ways a "career" is about money, convenient living, climbing a ladder, rights, success and applause. A "call" is about none of these things. To respond to a "call" is to give up dreams of making lots of money, of living in a choice neighbourhood, of climbing any ladder, of becoming a "success story" or of receiving lots of applause.

=== unless the 'ladder' be a call to greater / more stretching ministry somewhere else - but yes, without the 'perks' associated with this concept in the business world.

For a variety of reasons there are those who do lose their sense of "call". And without a sense of "call" there are very few who are able to labour on under the sorts of stresses and strains that Pastoral Ministry produces. When the passion and the willingness to sacrifice and serve have gone, Pastoral Ministry becomes almost impossible.

Perhaps the most important thing to say here is that you do not attempt to turn Pastoral Ministry into a "job" or any sort of "career". It will not work. The demands (many of them outrageous) and the costs of serving in Pastoral Ministry cannot be avoided. To try and tame the role into that of a 9 to 5 job will result in terrible frustration, and not only for you!

If the passion has gone and gone irrevocably it is time to seek out a new vocation.

=== or 'time out' for a while. I believe in the principle of sabbaticals between bursts of pastoral ministry.

Such thinking begs the question, "Is not God's call to Pastoral Ministry irrevocable?" Not necessarily. Many a person has been called to the role for only a season of their life.

=== Yes

When no church Invites.

You are all fired up. You may have skills and gifts and training in abundance and yet no one seems to want you. Why?

=== I'm not sure any more what 'training in abundance' means. I meet very well trained pastors who have had no formal theological education, and vice versa...

Relatively speaking, ours is not a big denomination. There are only a certain number of churches and there are only a certain number of styles of churches and there are only a certain number of churches in each of the "size brackets".

Our churches are not homogeneous. Neither are our pastors. At any given time the Advisory Board may be dealing with 20 or more churches in search of a pastor and simultaneously be dealing with 20 or more pastors in search of a church. It all looks so simple. Not so.

If a church is looking for a pastor who is skilled in multicultural issues and of the 20 or so pastors looking for a church none of them are, there is not much point giving any of those 20 names to that church. Or if a church is looking for a pastor who will happily work half time and if each of the 20 of so pastors looking for a church are all looking for full time appointments, there is not much point giving any of those names to that church. Or if we have a pastor who is very keen to serve in the country and all the churches before the (Denominational) Advisory Board are in the Metropolitan area then that pastor will not be hearing a lot from the Advisory Board. Or if we have a church that is particularly conservative or narrow there is little point putting the name of a more tolerant and liberal pastor to that church. And so on.

=== I'd leave the word 'narrow' out - too pejorative

All things being equal there can often be a long wait between indicating to the Advisory Board your availability and receiving an invitation from a church. Given enough time the "right" church always comes up for the "right" pastor.

=== Change 'always' to 'mostly' or something...

"Always"? Well not always. We have to face the fact that for some, no matter how much time is given, an invitation does not come.

If after a time it becomes obvious that no church is inviting it must be at least considered, that in fact there is no "call". In which case it is a matter of seeking out another opportunity for employment.

=== If we are to 'walk in the light' / 'speak the truth in love' to one another we will need to communicate with some ex-pastors that their original 'call' might have been misplaced/mistaken. Many ex-pastors have not heard this from anyone (until they talk to me in desperation)

because 'exit counselling' from the last pastorate/s wasn't done properly, if at all.

Within our own circles the best person to speak to at this point would be Rev. Rowland Croucher

(Email <>)

=== Add 'Dr' after 'Rev.' if you want to be precise (I ignore it most of the time). I'd prefer the web address to be placed there rather than an email address - http://jmm.aaa.net.au. (It has a contact button on every page).

Rowland has given many years of his life to studying the issues of moving from full time pastoral work to secular work.

=== or other kinds of 'ministries'.

He is a gifted counsellor and well able to support, guide and direct those who are caught up in the very significant transition of leaving full time Christian work.

=== David, although I've had to say 'no' to invitations to join committees/boards, I'm happy to come occasionally as a 'consultant' (pro bono generally).

Shalom!

Rowland Croucher

http://jmm.aaa.net.au